A Chance To Live-PART 1
by polandATEmyTACOS
Summary: In 2009, before the Mushroom War six children were chosen for a program. Taken away from their families they were trained for five years so that they would have a chance at surviving when they were sent to the year 3017. Five of the children died due to their incompatibility with the time stream. The last girl made it. In this strange new world she will find her future. OC's
1. A birthday, a friend, a song

_When I was child I considered the world a place where I could grow up in peace. I ignored the blaring television that my parents watched. Especially when it did not involve childish entertainment. So as I grew up I did not see the warning that shined from the black box. The political unrest. The threats of bombs and nukes. Starvation of children and greediness of the wealthy. I only saw the friends I had and the toys I owned. I spent more time wondering what candy I would by at the Sweet Shop instead of wondering what was going to happen to me in the short time I would live in the place I called my home._

_The year was 2009. I was a naïve ten-year-old girl. But ignorance would not be my savior. On the eve of my eleventh birthday I may have started to realize that something terrible was going to happen._

_It may have been that for the first time I saw my mother cry. She was a strong woman and had always told me only cry when there is no hope. Until then you laugh to get you through. And that rainy November day, she cried along with the grey sky._

_On that same day my Father could not look me in the eye. The talkative man he was for almost eleven years of my life had suddenly disappeared leaving a hollow shell of a human. The light that usually danced through his eyes and is ever-present smile were gone._

_The rain seemed colder._

_The sky seemed darker._

_The two-story country style home we lived in seemed much more lonely._

_The next day I learned why. _

_There was no party for my birthday. None of my friends came to wish me well. Instead we had two visitors that came. Both men in their late thirties in suits to tight to be comfortable and too formal to be for everyday business. My parents pushed me out the front door and the men forcefully lead me away. I screamed. I cried. I shouted at my parents to stop them._

_My parents wouldn't even look at me. Mom just cried again. Dad shut down. _

_I wept. I wept for the sake of all that was wrong with this world._

_I blacked out at some point. What I remember next is being in a room with five others around my age. Two girls, three boys, all as stunned and lost as I was._

_The boys were introduced as Antoine ,Fabian, and Hansel. The girls introduced themselves as Anya and Lola. Adding my odd name, which was, Cassiopeia,_

_we had a mixed bowl full of stories, weird names, and backgrounds. _

_Antoine was a quiet boy. A quiet boy from a quiet home in a quiet town somewhere out in California. His hands were dirt stained and callused, and his skin was tanned brown as if he was used to working in the sun for hours. He was kind and for the day we spent together in the room he stayed near me as if sensing I needed comforting. Which I did._

_I'm not going to lie._

_Fabian and Hansel were brothers. Identical in appearance really. But besides their slender faces, tall heights and baby blue eyes, the similarities disappeared. Fabian was the older twin. By two minutes only, but that didn't stop him from mentioning it every time his younger sibling tried to get his opinion out. His hair was dyed a dark coal color and was cut so messily you'd think the boy had taken a pair of scissors to his head while wearing a blindfold. He was angry most of the time and wouldn't stop spouting his theories on how we were kidnapped because we were going to be used as Alien food._

_His brother Hansel was much quieter and had a softer kinder look about him. His hair was different from his brother's. It was a soft blonde with almost a pink color to it and it shined softly in the light of the rooms overhead lamps. Unlike his irate brother, he seemed calm as he stood in the corner. But as I watched him I could see his hands were shaking while trying to keep a grasp on the rosary he held and he was softly singing hymns under his breath. He dropped the rosary five times. He didn't stop singing._

_Anya was a beautiful girl. Dark, ebony skin, and braided hair that went down her back. She seemed smart. She preferred to observe the others rather than make assumptions. They talked. She listened. And the rest of the time she had her ear to the door that lead outside of…wherever we were. Listening. Waiting._

_Lola was inconsolable. She cried most of time and only stopped when Antoine put his arms around her to provide comfort. And in his arms she fell asleep._

_Soon after Lola fell in to the clutches of sleep the others began to follow. Antoine stayed with Lola and he had a small smile on his face as he dreamed. Fabian was close to them and he snored softly. Anya had fallen asleep against the door so I moved her somewhere so she wouldn't get hurt. I looked back at Hansel. He was still in the corner sitting and softly singing with his rosary. I joined him in the corner._

_We just sat together for a while. Just watching the others._

"_Does God keep you calm at times like this," I asked breaking the soft melody. _

_He looked at me as if wondering whether he should answer._

_He turned back to his beads. "I don't actually believe in god." His voice was so soft his words were almost unheard. _

"_Why do you have the rosary then?"_

"_It's my friend's."_

_I stared at him. "Why were you singing hymns then" He laughed in response._

"_I was singing a lullaby my mom sings us."_

"_That's nice." It was the only thing I could say. At least he had something to keep him calm. At that moment I had wished I had something to feel safe. Something to sew. Something to draw. Something to write. Anything. _

_And then Hansel asked one simple question._

"_Do you want me to teach you the song?"_

_Neither of us slept that night. _

"_**My dear you are drowning**_

_**In dreams that are too deep**_

_**I wish that I could save you**_

_**But you need to sleep."**_

_Not out of fear for what we would have to face in the uncertain future._

"_**I'm still here at the edge of the pond**_

_**And I'll leave you to play in the sand**_

_**That resides under the rocking waves **_

_**That keep you away from the land."**_

_Not because of the pain we felt when we were betrayed by our families._

"_**And when you break to the surface to see I am not here**_

_**Just hold on to what drives away the pain and the fear**_

_**And remember my darling I'll always be near**_

_**Because inside your heart is all you hold dear."**_

_Not even because of the hunger in our bellies. We stayed awake to form a friendship by simply sharing simple melodies and quiet words and a lullaby that seemed to be more advice than song. _

_We were drowning. In a very dark dream. _

_At least he provided a small light._


	2. The First Year- Watch and Wait

_For the sake of remembering what is important I will skip most of what happened for the first two years of our confinement. There was not much we were told._

_Only that we had been chosen from a select group of genetically exceptional children. We were chosen to train for several years until they would proceed with a plan that would have us "break a chronological barrier in order to preserve the human genome in a living capsule". Being children we did not understand the statement's meaning. We would never see our families again. _

_We were not told where we held lest we try to escape. _

_All of us, with the exception of Fabian, listened to the warning against escape attempts. He didn't get far before he was dragged back to his room._

_Within the two years we trained in the ways of fighting. Not in things like martial arts, but with knives and swords. We went medieval with our training learning how to fight with the bare necessities, mend wounds with herbs and plants, cooking with strange things and odd animals. It was like that book "The Hungry Games". Except we weren't trying to kill each other. They taught us basic schooling. They never taught us much about human interaction though. We didn't interact much with others anyway except for the six of us. _

_The people who kept us confined didn't talk much. Anya said that you didn't have to hear what they said to get an understanding of them. We just needed to watch their actions and faces. And then sometime she would try to teach me how to do so._

_"For instance Cassiopeia, look at the lady with the red hair and freckles. The one with a stain on her lab coat. She always seems to keep her nose buried in her paperwork when observing us. But she seems to care more than the others."_

_"What makes you say that, she never says anything. We've at least heard a word out of the other adults."_

_"Exactly. She says nothing. She can't look any of us straight in the eye. She doesn't even bother to speak to the rest of them. And yet when she thinks nobody is looking, I sometimes catch her looking at Lola like she is about to cry. What does that tell you?"_

_"…She knows Lola?"_

_"Now you got it!"_

_A quick pat on the back and a "well done" or "you figured it out" and she went back to observing. I learned a lot though. I did._

_In addition to learning how to observe I learned the things they trained me. Some things I excelled in and others not so much. While my sword fighting, archery, and sewing skills were quite good, my cooking and healing skills left much to be desired. But for two years I was able to learn quite a bit and the skills I had refined were sharp._

_And through those two years the freindships I made with Anya, Antoine and Hansel flourished. Anya was the mentor. Antoine was support. Hansel…Hansel was something of a mystery. I didn't quite know what he was. He was a friend but by the age of thirteen I had a feeling about him. It wasn't quite the same as with Anya or Antoine. I didn't get the same butterfly in my heart feeling….._


End file.
